Author's Note:

Thanks for your reviews for chapter 10 ... time to travel back to ten days ago now ... slowly catching up! Oh, and since I'm trying to do this quickly errors may have crept in so please excuse. Thanks.

December 11th

"Evan wasn't there?" Jennifer tried to keep the disappointment from her tone but the sympathetic looks she was getting from everyone in the conference room suggested she hadn't been very successful.

"No, but Coughlin assured us the Major is fine," Sheppard told her in a firm tone. "Apparently he refused to go along with the village leaders 'crazy plan'," John air quoted the last part before going on, "and was jailed for his troubles."

"So he's in jail," Jennifer repeated in a low tone, trying to see a positive in that statement.

"Yeah, although from the sounds of it, it's not exactly Fort Knox," Sheppard smirked. "Coughlin was confident we can break Lorne out whenever we want."

"Yes, but we have to get there first," Rodney reminded them their most pressing problem was still an issue. "I can't believe Eldon of all people is behind us not being able to dial in – aside from the ancients themselves only the Goa'uld have that much control of the gate system, and Eldon's hardly in their league."

"How he's able to do something we can't is a subject we can discuss once we have the current situation resolved," Colonel Carter said briskly. "For now I think we need to discuss how we're going to get Lorne and his team back."

Rodney looked insulted at the suggestion that he couldn't control the gate system if he wanted to but a stern look from John stopped him from saying anything further.

"The Daedalus can get us into orbit," John reminded everyone. "We take a jumper and go in cloaked. From what Coughlin said their forces aren't exactly well armed. With the element of surprise we should be able to subdue any resistance without risking anyone's safety."

"But that is not what Major Lorne wants," Teyla said, her voice calm and even.

"Evan doesn't want to be rescued?" Jennifer challenged, disbelieving.

"Of course he does," John countered, sending Teyla a speaking look she returned with a regal arch of her brow. "He just thinks we should fix the problem Eldon abducted them for first."

"We should fix it," Ronon's voice rumbled deeply as he glanced around the table. "Torrell is harassing Eldon's village because we set them free."

"It's hardly our fault what some criminal decides to do years down the track!" Rodney exclaimed.

"They'd have been culled by the Wraith if we hadn't helped them escape," Ronon shot back, glaring at his team mate.

Rodney looked set to protest just for the sake of it before the honourable streak he tried to hide reared up and had him nodding instead.

"From what I read in Doctor Weir's report you didn't have much choice," Colonel Carter noted. "The Magistrate was sending innocent people to the island along with the criminals."

"That's true," John agreed, "hence our deciding to free everyone and worry about it later."

Only they hadn't found the time to go back and check on the refuges from Olesia, just like they rarely found the time to follow up on most of the situations they stumbled into. Jennifer knew Evan had been a part of that mission and hence a part of the decision too. No wonder he wanted to fix things now!

"All right," Carter looked around the table before settling her glance on John. "We send your team with the Daedalus and beam you down to talk to Privic to offer our assistance, on the proviso that they let Major Lorne and his team go immediately. If they agree, you'll come up with a suitable plan to eliminate the problem Torrell poses."

"And if they don't agree?" Jennifer had to ask.

"Then the Daedalus beams both teams off the surface," Sam met Jennifer's eyes, confidence shining from hers. "Lieutenant Coughlin didn't mention anything that suggests their subcutaneous transmitters have been compromised. We'll be able to confirm from orbit the locations of all our people and monitor them the entire time Colonel Sheppard's team are there."

"I want to go too," Jennifer declared, her eyes pleading for Sam to agree without protest.

Carter hesitated, her eyes narrowed as she assessed Jennifer. "Very well," she said, a small smile playing over her lips when Jennifer almost bounced in excitement over the positive response. "The Daedalus will arrive in twelve hours – be ready to go as soon as she's in range."

Jennifer jumped up along with everyone, hurrying from the room to make her preparations. There wasn't much to do – Amanda Cole was more than capable of keeping things running in Jenn's absence. After the briefest of briefings on her current cases that might need attention while she was gone, Jennifer had nothing left to do but wait for those ten hours to pass by.

They weren't what was bothering her though … no, it was the three days they'd have to spend on the Daedalus, time when anything could be happening to Evan. Days when he'd be locked up in some kind of primitive jail. He'd hate that! It bothered her, knowing that, and she hated that every time she thought of him now it would be imaging him stuck in a tiny cell light years away. There must be something they could do!

Muttering an excuse to Amanda, Jennifer hurried from the infirmary, heading straight to Rodney's lab.

"You have to break Eldon's hold on the Stargate," she declared as soon as she strode in and found him alone.

"Oh, well, now that it's you who's asking, sure, no problem!" Rodney shot back sarcastically.

"Rodney," Jennifer pleaded. "It'll take three days to get to Olesia … with the gate we could be there right now!"

"I know that!" Rodney said irritably. "Don't you think I haven't already tried to work out what Eldon did? The Stargate is incredibly complicated – there are thousands of lines of code just for the navigation systems alone and almost as many ways it could go wrong. Without seeing this device in action it'll take years to run through all the possibilities."

"So you can't do it?" Jennifer swallowed back the sudden urge to cry.

"No," Rodney replied starkly. "Look, I understand that this is difficult … for you I mean. If there was something I could do to speed things up I'd have already done it." Flushing abruptly he backpedalled. "For anyone – I'd do the same for anyone because that's what I do … it's my job … to fix things." He stopped, giving her a pained look before directing his attention back to his laptop.

"I know and I'm sorry," Jennifer apologised. "I just hate the idea of Evan being stuck in jail for three days."

"He's a soldier," Rodney commented. "Aren't they trained for that kind of thing?"

He had a point. Jennifer nodded. "I guess so … and you're right, this is more my problem than it is Evan's. Maybe they should have some training for spouses – how to handle stuff like this."

"Spouses?" Rodney zeroed in on that one word, his expression too carefully unconcerned.

"Oh," Jenn blushed. "Um … future spouses would be more accurate, I guess."

"So you and Lorne are tying the knot?" Rodney asked.

"That's the plan," Jennifer smiled. "I should let you get back to work … thanks for listening Rodney."

"You're welcome," Rodney looked suddenly bleak.

"Are you … is everything okay?" Jennifer frowned.

"Of course, why wouldn't it be?" Rodney's smile was forced, the jovial tone at odds with his usual demeanour. "I'll keep thinking about the gate situation – if I come up with something you'll be the second person to know ... or maybe the third, after Sheppard and Colonel Carter."

"Thank you Rodney," Jennifer said softly, concerned for her friend but not sure how to help him.

He nodded, turning back to his computer without another word. Jenn watched him for a few moments before taking her leave.

It was late the same day, just before she was set to leave for the Daedalus, that the conversation with Rodney came back to her, taking on a different meaning. She'd decided to read Evan's advent message for the next day before she left. At first she'd been undecided what to do about the time she'd be away from the city. She couldn't take the advent house with her but something in her refused to ruin Evan's proposal by not reading his messages on the days he'd intended them to be read. In the end she'd decided to find the next three messages too and leave them rolled up until it was time to read them. Tucking them carefully into the side pocket of her medical bag, she eyed the message for the following day before quickly unrolling it. Once she'd read it, Jenn almost wished she'd left that one for tomorrow too.

"McKay will finally stop hoping that you'll see the light and dump me for him."

"God I hope you're wrong about that," Jennifer muttered, although Rodney's reaction to her slip about the future with Evan suggested he was more likely right. How had she missed that Rodney McKay had a crush on her? And what could she do to make it better for him? She knew Evan would urge her to let it go – crushes seemed serious at the time but were rarely truly damaging. Rodney would get over it and they'd continue to be friends. Jenn didn't want to do that though because although Rodney was often irritable and impatient, he was very rarely sad. No, what she needed was someone else to attract Rodney's attentions.

Amanda had always been one of the few medical staff who'd never complained about having to deal with Rodney … she'd gotten on well with the scientist for years, more so even than Jenn. "I wonder," Jennifer mused, making a mental note to herself to have a chat with her friend as soon as possible. For now she had to get to the Gateroom - it was time to begin the trip to Olesia.